![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5146.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOur tour leader from Albatros said it was fair game to ask about the civil war and reported ethnic cleansing in the North but to expect a standard vetted line in response.\u00a0 I haven’t had the courage to ask about it yet.\u00a0 I’m scared to hear what the standard vetted line might be.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Thus far throughout this trip, I\u2019ve been just a few seconds slow or just a few seconds early in clicking my camera phone’s shutter.\u00a0 As a result, all of my photos are out-of-time and place.\u00a0 They don\u2019t seem to capture the moment I had hoped.\u00a0 Occasionally I\u2019ve seen other runners on the city tour showing off images they snapped and I think, \u201cWow \u2013 they really nailed it.\u201d\u00a0 Looking at mine I can only think incredulously, \u201cWow\u2026 did I really just take a picture of that?!\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m off and I want to blame jetlag but the reality is I\u2019m just not a great photographer.\u00a0 That won\u2019t preclude my uploading a bunch of subpar photos to the site but you\u2019ve been forewarned.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to proverbially cull the wheat from the chaff but it\u2019s more like a gluten free version of wheat \u2013 astro-wheat?\u00a0 Tofu-wheat?\u00a0 What\u2019s a gluten free substitute?\u00a0 You get the idea.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
I have a long notes file in my iPhone with various odds and ends of minutiae <\/span>and trivia. But I suspect most of that is more for me than for an external audience.\u00a0 I\u2019m therefore going to endeavor to keep that in mind and make this a bit more reader friendly.\u00a0 I have a tendency even in my best intentions to ramble incessantly and tangentially so we will see how I do.<\/p>\n Today felt more like a series of photo hops than sightseeing.\u00a0 Our local guide Sheila was certainly knowledgeable and like most Burmese I\u2019ve encountered thus far super friendly and eager to help.\u00a0 After a typically robust breakfast we embarked on our large buses for a rolling city tour that was constrained by a charter flight to our next locale at 3:30 pm.<\/p>\n We were scheduled therefore to hit three main \u201cmust do\u201ds in Yangon: a Giant Pagoda that serves as the de facto icon of Myanmar; a jumbo reclining Buddha; and one of two man made lakes (this third one is the place I ran around breaking the boardwalk the other day).<\/p>\n STOP 1 \u2013 9 AM to 10 AM: SHWEDAGON PAGODA<\/em><\/strong> Surrounding the main pagoda are various shrines, prayer halls, and temples devoted to all things Buddhism.\u00a0 Four gates, oriented according to the compass offer entryway but there\u2019s no significance to that other than for entry\/exit.\u00a0 HOWEVER, the cardinal directions do play a significance when it comes to shrines devoted to the eight days of the Buddhist week.\u00a0 Yes, eight days a week.\u00a0 Wednesday is split into Wednesday proper (midnight to noon) and Rahu (noon to midnight).\u00a0 Each day has a special animal.\u00a0 For example, I was born in the afternoon on a Wednesday so I\u2019m a Rahu baby and my spirit animal is a non-tusked elephant.<\/p>\n I know I said I wasn\u2019t going to go into minute details but this is just a fun fact \u2013 when striking the bell at a Buddhist temple\/shrine, it\u2019s always done as an odd number \u2013 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.\u00a0 Three times is the most typical and it\u2019s a signal of \u201cgood deeds.\u201d\u00a0 But it\u2019s not boastful bragging; it\u2019s designed to have the mind whispering good deeds and good fortune to the wind, sharing the good fortune with all creation.\u00a0 Or so I scribbled down when Sheila was telling us about it.\u00a0 As is often the case with tour guides, one never knows if it\u2019s fact or just convenience to tell tourists; and moreso one never knows if the tourist understood what was being said in the first place.<\/p>\n Basically, take anything I say with not just a grain of salt but a veritable quarry of salt.<\/p>\n Oh, and good news — while you seek enlightenment, you are also able to surf the net:<\/p>\n Hey, Siri… how do I obtain nirvana?<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n STOP 2 – Chauk-htat-gyi Buddha Temple \u2013 A Jumbo \u201cReclining\u201d Buddha \u2013 10:20 \u2013 10:40 AM.<\/strong><\/p>\n Remember the salt caveat.\u00a0 My understanding is that there are two types of supine Buddhas in Myanmar \u2013 a relaxation position and a death position.\u00a0 The main differences are in the head and feet \u2013 a \u201cdeath\u201d Buddha is lying flat and the eyes may be closed, with feet in a straight orientation.\u00a0 A reclining Buddha meanwhile has a head propped on a pillow or his hand and the feet are straight and parallel.<\/p>\n In 1901, a patron built a giant Buddha but neglected to weatherproof it.\u00a0 The years took their toll and by the 1950s Buddha had fallen into disrepair.\u00a0 The government sought a coalition and in 1957 they demolished the old Buddha and rebuilt it across the street, this time in a large structure to protect it from the elements and ensure its longevity.\u00a0 The whole statue is concrete except for the eyes which are made of glass.\u00a0 The story goes that local Burmese artisans were unable to get the right \u201clook\u201d and so the glass, imported from Russia, was sent to Japan.\u00a0 But the Japanese couldn\u2019t get it right either and finally it was brought back to a tiny glass factory in Yangon who were able to make it happen.\u00a0 They produced two sets of eyeballs and as the first set fell into place in the statue, the backup pair mysteriously shattered of their own accord.\u00a0 Or so the story goes.\u00a0 As he reclines now, this Buddha is the 2nd<\/sup> or 3rd<\/sup> largest Buddha in Myanmar.\u00a0 The largest is over 300 meters long; Chauk-htat-gyi is 65 meters long and 17 meters tall.<\/p>\n Unquestionably he\u2019s a big Buddha.<\/p>\n And he has large shoes to fill.<\/p>\n Also, this monk charged me a dollar to take his photo.\u00a0 I really wanted to snap it while he was wearing his sunglasses.\u00a0 I warned you the photos weren’t great but when you pay a buck, sometimes that trumps editorial concerns:<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n STOP 3: KANDAWGYI LAKE and KARAWIK ROYAL BARGE \u2013 11:20 \u2013 11:40 AM.<\/strong><\/p>\n In colonial Burma, the British used their two man-made lakes to provide drinking water to the town.\u00a0 But pollution has taken a toll and these days Yangon has to get its drinking water from 20 miles away.\u00a0 Farther afield, the drinking water isn\u2019t great so we\u2019ve been advised to stick with bottled water and avoid ice cubes and uncooked vegetables.<\/p>\n As I mentioned earlier, this is where I ran\u2026 er, walked cautiously\u2026 the other day.\u00a0 The Karawik Royal Barge is a concrete convention center\/reception hall thing that LOOKS like a Royal Barge but is in fact not floating anywhere.\u00a0 It\u2019s a Royal Barge tribute.\u00a0 And it looks like a bird.<\/p>\n The boardwalk remained as structurally unsound and non-non, non-non \u201cstrong bridge, Indy\u201d as the day before.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n I\u2019ll skip the lunch discussion and our chartered flight to Mandalay for the time being.\u00a0 I\u2019ll write more tomorrow about the imperial capital of Burmese Royalty before the British took over in the 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n
\nBuilt some 2600 years ago, this 99 meter tall pagoda is purportedly built on eight hairs of the Buddha.\u00a0 I was hoping to see them a la Superman\u2019s hair in The Quest for Peace<\/em> (1987) but they\u2019re apparently buried under all the gold, diamonds, jewels, and gold leaf decorations of this multilayered \u201conion\u201d structure.<\/p>\n<\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\u00a0 <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n